Timeline of Events and Documents
Corner Connection was ideated in January of 2023, and brought to life on April 1 of 2023. In that time, a few locations in Jefferson County were researched to meet the needs of both the business plan and the ultimate vision of meetings the needs of the community with a mixed-use community hub to include office space, meeting space, gathering spaces and a special events venue. We ultimately chose Downtown Charles Town as a central hub for Jefferson County and a perception of support from the officials within the City.
However, that support would quickly diminish and give way to the same rhetoric of “pick and choose” policies that have plagued the business development opportunities within the City of Charles Town for years. Our focus is to showcase the cause and effect of these issues and the financial detriment to our brick and mortar, family owned business. The impact to our business is undeniable and the following documents and timeline of events should showcase this in a factual manner. Conversely, the impact of our business and the immediate opportunities we have brought to the community in less than a year of operations is also undeniable.
To say that we are disappointed in the elected and appointed officials and staff of the City of Charles Town is an understatement. Furthermore, we are not alone. People will always bristle at change, however, what Charles Town needs is evolution. Evolution allows one to keep their roots and highlight their heritage while nurturing and supporting innovation and economic development with a cohesive plan that envelops a mindset of cooperation and collaboration. For a City to move forward and thrive, there is no room for divisive politics and closed-door cliques.
We know there are those who will not support us, or will not like what we share. We are sorry for that, but we can politely agree to disagree and, please know you are always welcome regardless of our differences. We also are sharing these details with complete transparency, because we are not afraid and don’t have anything to hide or coverup, at this point. We desperately tried to resolve the legitimate grievances and financial loss imposed on our business with a strong desire to avoid litigation and wasting of tax-payer dollars. However, deceitful and undermining behaviors from multiple parties have made our next steps unavoidable. Our focus of this narrative is to outline our communications with the City of Charles Town, their staff and their officials. Please note, the entity known as the Farmers Market could be replaced by a Carnival, a weekly Street Fest, a Running Club or any other initiative and our response would be the same. While this has been made into an Us vs. Them, that is not the truth of the matter. However, we will own that there have been numerous communications issues with the management of the Farmers Market that have compromised efforts to co-exist during the first year of their conditional use Special Activities Permit, which pre-dated our lease and expired in October of 2023. The following outline should highlight the activities and issues that have brought our business to the next steps we must take.
March -June including our Grand Opening of April 1st, 2023
Prior to our opening, we invited Fiona for a tour and discussion of our vision and possible opportunities to collaborate. We included the invitation to consider our space for rainy dates, as well as vendor restrooms, etc. She didn’t respond after the tour other than to say that we should not share any details of our discussions with her vendors, including restroom use. As the season evolved, our business was mostly open to the public on the weekends to try and promote exposure and this included both Farmers Market visitors and vendors visiting our space, using our restrooms and our facilities.
Grand Opening of April 1st
Prior to an emailed complaint, we had been told we were forbidden to access our driveway in the mornings, even when other vendors were driving into S. Samuel to load in. Our driveway was blocked by the market truck and trailer which deliberately parked across our driveway to unload as early as 5AM on many mornings. This forced 2-3 of us who were managing within the building to take up parking at BCT, which we were later informed was only for Farmers Market customers, which we have shopped the Farmers Market almost every weekend of the season.
By June, we were taking customer parking on Washington Street as we were specifically informed that we are not permitted to park in the BCT lot. By having to park on Washington Street or N. Samuel Street or Congress Street, we were walking extensively for trash removal, event setup, and business deliveries. The alternative was to manage these tasks through either the staired and narrow front door entrance to our building or the trafficked and cluttered sidewalks leading to our S. Samuel Street entrance and loading bay. Additionally, the no parking signs are placed as early as Friday morning and remain sometimes until Monday morning, confusing would be guests and event attendees.
At this time. we had already lost two opportunities, both weddings which require extensive pre-event setup, due to the lack of clear access to our building. This was a $4,500 hit to a new business. That is almost one months rent lost in less than 30 days of being open and operational. We needed to course correct quickly to build both traffic and exposure to the business in order to book times and dates where we could provide unencumbered access. We added our Saturday Shoppes as a means to do so and rarely hosted competing businesses within the space so as to be a collaborative shopping experience to the vendors in the market and not competitive.
First Emailed Complaint to Corner Connection dated 5/19/2023 - Click Here to View
My Emailed response to the letter which was a forward of the original email to City Council, Mayor and Liz Cook, Business Development and Downtown Coordinator, dated 5/19/2023 - Click Here to View
First Response Received or Acknowledges by anyone was on 5/23/2023 by Liz Cook - Click Here to View
Second and Only response from a Council Member on 5/25/2023 by Rikki Twyford - Click Here to View
Second Email Complaint dated 5/25/2023, even though there had not been a further parking issue - Click Here to View
Forward of second email complaint to Liz Cook and parties dated 5/25/2023 - Click Here to View
Forward of second email complaint to Kevin Tester and Rikki Twyford dated 5/26/2023, as they were the only Council members to respond - Click Here to View
Liz’s response to meet with Mayor and discuss dated 5/26/2023 - Click Here to View
The first meeting with Liz and the Mayor included one of our partners and family members, Chloe Waldeck, and we walked the exterior of the building explaining the issues that we are facing, the impact to income, the lack of access to our business and the overall policies of approving a recurring event. We asked if it was true that all dates are pulled one permit and if the entire season was already approved for this location, which they confirmed it was. We also asked if each date is paid for individually, or do they only pay the single Special Activity Permit fee of $25. They confirmed it was only the single permit fee to cover all dates.
At that time, Chloe Waldeck asked if we would have the same opportunity to pull a Special Activity Permit in a similar manner to cover a request of reserving the two parking spaces in front of our main entrance on S. Samuel Street. Their answer was that anyone is allowed to submit a Special Activity Permit for review. This did not give us much confidence in how matters were transpiring. We asked them to review options for relocating the Farmers Market for the next season and follow up with us.
In early June, Liz and the Mayor returned to our building to inform me that they would not be relocating the Farmers Market for the foreseeable future, with an unclear response regarding the 2024 season. I advised them that their decision has a direct impact on our revenue, safe access to our building, and profitable operations on the peak business day during the peak business season catering to our most billable audience, weddings. In addition, did they understand that weddings bring tourism “heads in beds”, diners, and other such revenue streams to other areas businesses as a bolster to the local economy and continued efforts of revitalization. They lacked an acknowledgement. At that time, I needed to get to an emergency appointment and I told them that they are leaving me in a position where I could ultimately have to seek legal action. Again, a basic head nod was what I received and I told them that they could see themselves out as I needed to leave.
July - October
We spent much of the summer promoting the business, trying to book events where our clients were willing to negotiate with access, as many voiced concerns that they did not want to either load-in or attempt access through the Farmers Market traffic on Saturdays. This reduced our bookable event hours to our 5 Hour Rate of $350 versus our 7 Hour Rate of $700 or Full Day Rate of $1000. We continued to lose reservations and had to negotiate around the limited access. Additionally, potential guests were worried about parking and access for handicapped attendees or members of their family with special needs needing to park further away and access through crowds and items on the sidewalks. Some of our conference style event requests were concerned with how they would load in larger totes, food service and rental equipment safely through the crowds, including those that sit on our wall and gather.
After much research and compromise, we wrote a letter dated 9/18/203 to present at City Council which alleged Tortious Interference regarding the ongoing road closures on Samuel Street that occur every Saturday from April through October, typically 30+ out of 52 Saturdays a year, due to the Farmers Market operations. These closures, along with the harassment of my business, visitors and vendors, have severely impacted the operations of Corner Connection, with a mailing address of 119 E. Washington Street, and our main entrance of 108 S. Samuel Street which also offers a fully handicap accessible and 911 Emergency Service entrance.
In August, we submitted a Special Activity Permit to request two reserved parking spaces in front of our S. Samuel Street entrance on Satrudays and Sundays from November of 2023 thru to November of 2024 due to our special events business and venue. This request stated that we would not close the street and would submit an additional Special Activity Permit should a future event on Saturday or Sunday require it, for an additional $25 fee with the additional Special Activity Permit. Click Here to View the letter of denial from Liz Cook. We would later learn, after confronting John Nissel with our concerns, that the Farmers Market Special Activity Permit had already been approved in either July or August. This was not disclosed at this time.
The letter was presented to City Council and can be read with complete documentation by CLICKING HERE.
The public comment to City Council and the delivered letter requested a written response within 14 Business Days. This response was hand delivered by John Nissel, City Manager, on October 11, 2023 which was well past the requested 14 Business Days, showing a pattern of continued delays in addressing the ongoing situation and delaying any resolution that we were trying to accommodate within reason and current policies. Below is the timeline of the correspondence from that date, forward.
Response from John Nissel dated October 11, 2023 - Click Here to View
First Letter of Concern of unbiased mediation dated October 22, 2023 and including his response on October 23, 2023 - Click Here to View
First Date of Mediation Scheduled on 10/27 for November 21, 2023 - Click Here to View
John Nissel’s Request to cancel and reschedule first meeting for mediation on 11/17/2023 and move to 11/22/2023 - Click Here to View
Unfortunately, I could not be available on 11/22/2023 and replied with that info - Click Here to View
The meeting for mediation was ultimately schedule to 11/27/2023 and included Rita Hennessy from the GAP Coalition. This meeting was then canceled on the morning of 11/27/2023 by email from Carolyn Vezzosi, John’s Executive Assistant - Click Here to View. Attempts were made to reschedule on the same day, with responses from both myself, Mara (Click Here to View), and Rita (Click Here to View). Learning that there was a delay, and not a cancellation after concern was brought forward, I invited Rita to use our space should she not want to wait her in car (Click Here to View).
On the same day of cancellation, I forwarded Carolyn Vezzosi, John’s Executive Assistant, a letter sent to John Nissel that had not been responded to which included the re-addressing of our property - Click Here to View. Additionally, here is the original confirmation email of re-addressing from GIS Coordinator, Jessica Gormont (Click Here to View), and the official letter (Click Here to View). Lastly, here is the letter from Jeffrey A. Polczynski, Director of Communications at Jefferson County 9-1-1, declaring our main entrance which includes all emergency access and ADA access (Click Here to View).
On 11/27/2023 when we were able to finally gather for our first mediation meeting, led by John Nissel, our attendance from Corner Connection included two family partners and investors. He was not pleased that there were additional parties to Corner Connection in attendance, however, given how events had transpired until this point, we felt it was important that there was a witness and equal representation to the discussion.
The key take aways and summaries of this meeting included the following:
Posed by John Nissel, what proposal did Corner Connection want to make to work with the Farmers Market in its current location. This was a non-starter as we had continued to highlight the liability, risk, and encumbrance to our ADA and main entrance, along with the ongoing financial losses to our business.
We inquired about several locations in town, including the pre-approved event streets noted on the Special Event Policy of both S. Charles Street and N. George Street, and also N. Samuel Street. Additionally, we have documentation that the County Commission would be willing to review a conditional use of their parking lot during their weekend vacancies for ample use to house the Farmers Market.
John Nissel stated that there was not a reason to find a different location for the short term of 1-2 years, as it would most likely be moved to a green space near the APUS campus for its long term and permanent location. This seemed to be a surprise to Rita Hennessy.
The reason given that the Farmers Market can’t be relocated is that it has “always been there” which is the response we have received over and over again. This is not a factual statement.
The only option brought forward, was a plan that John Nissel revisited from an earlier proposal by Corner Connection, which included half of the street where Corner Connections access points are located to remain open, with a street closure beginning just past our driveway. The meeting ended on that note, and Rita would review with her board.
We expressed that Rita is welcome to invite any member of their organization to the next meeting, should she feel that she did not have an opportunity to be equally represented with additional parties from their organization.
The next meeting was scheduled for 12/08/2023
The next meeting was scheduled to meet in front of Corner Connection, per John Nissel on 12/06/2023 - Click Here to View
The response we provided, also on 12/06/2023, confirmed that location and the correct address - Click Here to View
On that same date, we became aware of two social media posts that identified the returning of the Farmers Market to S. Samuel Street,
one of which was from an event hosted by the City of Charles Town, Blooms and Blossoms. Click Here to View the detailed email and
summary of concerns as to whether mediation was being conducted in an unbiased environment. Additionally, we did not understand
how an announcement of these happenings could be made without an approved Special Activities Permit being approved and presented
for public record.
John replied with the first disclosure we had received to date that the market permit had been renewed in
August, and a very different account of what the purpose of the meetings had been. Additionally, he stated that
nothing had been presented in writing to the City or representatives, which was completely untrue, as evidenced
by the documentation and timeline outlined here.
Two of our investors who have been copied and partied to much of this process, replied to his email.
Chloe Waldeck’s response to John Nissel and the news of an approved Special Event Permit - Click Here to View
Kirk Waldeck’s response to John Nissel and the news of an approved Special Event Permit - Click Here to View
On, 12/08/2023, our group included Mara, Kirk and Chloe. We waited outside of our 108 S. Samuel Street entrance, as agreed
upon and proposed by John Nissel. Given the location of entry, the trees shield the walkway from visibility. We waited and did not
see any meeting attendees. Chloe walked to the 119 E. Washington Street entrance and we did not see anyone there. We emailed
John Nissel (Click Here to View) to see if the meeting had been canceled or moved. John then walked from the BCT parking lot,
where he had already been meeting with both Rita Hennessy and Todd Coyle of the GAP Coalition without our presence.
From that point, we asked very simply would the market consider relocating. Both parties to the GAP Coalition stated they would not.
We asked John if he would do anything to enforce the market relocating and he stated he would not, and only the City Council and
the Mayor could make those level of changes. Progress was not made towards any solutions, as John was made aware that Congress
Street could not be closed, and to the best of our knowledge and questioning, no other locations would be considered or were pursued
as alternate locations since our last meeting.
John revisited the idea of closing half of the street, starting the BCT corner of our driveway. We stated we had agreed with the concept since
September when we proposed it. After walking through layers of feasibility, we were at a stopping point as the Farmers Market wanted to retained the option to occupy and close the full street at their request based on their demand and vendor population. As we are a reservation and booking business model, we can’t promote and guarantee one level of access, to only have that changed a day before their event should the Farmers Market deem that they need more space. They mentioned they have used the BCT lot and Fuzzy Dog lot in the past and could see if those might be options for larger attendance days. We stated that if they would pursue those options, then we would donate up to $500 towards the COIs that would most likely be required for them to occupy a private business space with their vendors. We agreed that following up on the progress of Todd Coyle seeking out these conversations and permissions could happen within the next 7-10 business days. From that day on, we never had a response or update from John Nissel, Todd Coyle, or Rita Hennessy, despite numerous inquiries for follow up. Click Here to View. Our second email request was sent on 01/01/2024 - Click Here to View. Lastly, the email from myself was sent to address the sudden appearance of an agenda item for the 01/02/2024 Council Meeting regarding a “request to revoke” the market. Click Here to View my email, noting that in any and all of the documentation have we ever used the word revoke. We have been loyal Farmers Market customers, we shop vendors almost every weekend, our issue has been with the chronic issue of the City of Charles Town not following their own policies and ordinances, to the detriment of our brick and mortar business that is unable to move.
Key Documentation and Legal Premise for Action Against the City of Charles Town
Our lease appears very clear in our granted access, however, the last clause granting access to the Premises during normal business hours, and always for reasons of emergency or security.
This alone is being compromised by the City of Charles Town as our secured access for federally protected access is a security issue as it leaves the building, the business, and the landowner vulnerable to risk. But, most importantly, the guests with accessibility needs are at risk with an entrance that is neither secure nor safe when the road, sloped sidewalk entry at the corner of Washington and Samuel Streets, and the sloped entry at our driveway leaves navigation up to and into our ADA entrance unsecured and unsafe.
Equally as important and at an imposed and passive acceptance of risk is the encumbered access to our 911 and Emergency access. That documentation has already been covered and appears to be a very clear.
